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Cell Phone Services Rank Low in Consumer Satisfaction

Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 21:00 CST

By Rodney Tanaka, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Calif.

Dec. 8--A new survey shows many cell phone users are not happy with their service.

Only 47 percent of respondents to a Consumer Reports survey said they were completely satisfied or very satisfied with their cell phone service, one of the lowest showings for any type of service in the United States.

The reader score for cell carriers is unchanged from last year at 67, which ranks below hotels, supermarkets and HMOs in terms of how well they please consumers.

Thirty-one percent of respondents were seriously considering switching carriers. The results come from a September 2005 survey of more than 50,000 cell phone users in 18 metropolitan areas.

The survey also showed many problems brought on by the recent merger between AT&T and Cingular Wireless.

More than half the Cingular customers in the survey were former AT&T customers, and those who kept their AT&T phones reported significantly more connection problems and substantially lower satisfaction rates than those who bought new Cingular phones.

But the transition is like a highway construction project, Cingular spokesman Art Navarro said, with some inconvenience while the work is being done, but with the promise of a smoother and faster ride down the road.

"We are making a significant investment in the network here in the greater Los Angeles area," Navarro said. "We have an aggressive building plan to enhance coverage and improve voice and data quality and enhance the overall customer experience."

One reason for the acquisition of AT&T was to better serve consumers, Navarro said.

"We're now in a transitional period where we have brought new benefits to customers," he said. "We're also making changes to make additional improvements."

Consumer Reports has always taken a dim view of the wireless industry, Navarro said.

"More than 190 million Americans make wireless a vital part of their lives, proof that consumers have faith in the wireless industry," he said.

Not all AT&T customers are unhappy with their new service.

West Covina resident Carol Tucci, 49, said she has no complaints with her AT&T service.

"If I did have a problem, I would have thrown it," she said of her phone.

Lupe Mora, 31, an accounting student at Cal Poly Pomona, said she uses her phone for business. She sometimes has reception problems in the hills, but otherwise has no complaints.

Cell phone usage increased, with 80 percent of respondents saying they used their cell phones at least twice a day during the past week, up from 69 percent last year.

For the Los Angeles area, Verizon received the highest reader score with 74 and Nextel received the lowest score with 56. An 80 means respondents were very satisfied and a 60 means somewhat satisfied. Thirty-seven percent said they were using text messaging but 21 percent of those said it cost more than they expected.

Text messaging comes in handy, Truong said.

"It's less noticeable when you're in class," she said.

For more information, visit www.ConsumerReports.org.

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To see more of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sgvtribune.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

BLS, T, VZ, VOD, S,

Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune

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